TV Program On Reading’s Future Takes First Place

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Berks County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

A program produced by WFMZ-TV and Reading Eagle Company took first place in the public affairs category over the weekend at the Pennsylvania Associated Press Broadcasters Association awards banquet for 2012 in Harrisburg.

It was previously announced that “From Poverty to Prosperity: Reading Looks to the Future” finished in the top three in the category for medium-market TV stations, but its exact finish was not announced until the banquet.

The program was a joint effort between print and television media, sponsored by M&T Bank in collaboration with United Way of Berks County and hosted by Reading Area Community College.

Read more:  http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=479294

Former Pennsylvania Governor George Leader Honored At Funeral Service

Standard of the Governor of Pennsylvania http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/us-pa.html#gov (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

HERSHEY, PA – Douglas Yeboah first met George Leader about eight years ago while working as a chaplain at the state prison in Chester.

Leader had sponsored a program at the prison to provide guidance and mentors to inmates, giving them a second chance. He believed in second chances and he believed in helping people in prison, people others had discarded or forgotten.

Not long after that, Yeboah retired from the prison system and moved back to his native Ghana.  He kept in touch with Leader and the former governor would often ask about Yeboah’s work.  The work, he always told him, was hard.  There was so much need in Ghana, so much pain and suffering.  Yeboah told him that children lacked medical care and that many of their maladies were preventable, if only they had access to clean drinking water.

Leader asked what he could do and in a short time, a drilling rig to dig wells for clean water was on its way to Ghana.  Yeboah mentioned to Leader that he hoped one day to build a children’s hospital, but it was out of his reach.  Leader told him he could do it, he could make it happen.

Read more:  http://www.ydr.com/local/ci_23259461/gov-george-leader-laid-rest

Interstate 81 Should Reopen In Harrisburg By Tuesday Morning, PennDOT Officials Say

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Dauphin County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Under ideal circumstances, transportation officials hope to reopen all lanes of Interstate 81 underneath the ramp damaged by last week’s tanker fire by early Tuesday morning.

“Our goal will be [to reopen I-81] for the Tuesday morning rush,” said Mike Keiser, the area district executive for the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation during a news conference Sunday at the scene of the fire on I-81, near Exit 67.

“I-81 should be back to full lanes in all directions by Tuesday,” he said.

Keiser also announced the completion of crossover lanes splitting the two westbound lanes of Route 22 into a single eastbound and a single westbound lane.  Access to Harrisburg via the crossover should be available after 4 p.m. Sunday, Keiser said.

Read more:  http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2013/05/interstate_81_should_be_open_i.html#incart_river_default

Area Truckers Not Troubled By I-81/Route 322 Shutdown After Tanker Fire

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Dauphin County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Just like Harrisburg area commuters, the local trucking industry is being inconvenienced by the shutdown of I-81 and Route 322, but it hasn’t been hamstrung by the subsequent delays.

Trucking executives say they’ve been able to comfortably plot new routes for their fleets of 18-wheelers around the area affected by Thursday’s explosive truck accident, and haven’t experienced anything more than a couple hours delay.

“It somewhat limits our ability to conduct business as usual,” said Jim Germak, president of Jagtrux in Marietta. “The gridlock in Harrisburg is something we have to deal with just like everybody else.  But it’s not a total panic.”

Germak, who oversees a fleet of 40 trucks that transport materials for a range of customers such as Armstrong ceiling tile in Lancaster, said his drivers suffer from the shutdown most during the day, and particularly during the morning and evening rush hours when traffic jams can extend truck trips up to two hours.

Read more:  http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2013/05/area_truckers_not_troubled_by.html#incart_m-rpt-1

Road Repairs Could Take At Least Two Months After Tanker Fire On Interstate 81

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Dauphin County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Damage from a fuel tanker explosion near the interchange of Interstate 81 and Route 22/322 will cost tens of millions and shut down a small section of road for two months or more, state officials said Thursday afternoon.

Earlier Thursday morning, a fuel tanker exploded and rolled over on the highway, causing what Gov. Tom Corbett believes is the worst damage to a Pennsylvania highway since a tire fire off I-95 near Philadelphia in 1996.

Both directions of I-81 from Route 581 in Cumberland County to I-81/83 split in Dauphin County are closed.  Officials said they expect it to reopen in time for the Monday morning commute.

The ramp from northbound I-81 to westbound Route 22/322 remains closed.  Eastbound Route 22 through the interchange toward the City of Harrisburg remains closed.

Read more and see pictures:   http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2013/05/harrisburg_bridges_shut_throug.html#incart_m-rpt-1

Pottstown, Phoenixville Split By Court-Approved Re-Districting Plan

Location of Pottstown in Montgomery County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Both Pottstown and Phoenixville will be split into two different legislative districts under the legislative re-districting approved Wednesday by the state Supreme Court.

The new districts will take effect in the 2014 election cycle and shift legislative lines for the state House and Senate seats throughout Southeast Pennsylvania and may change who is representing you in Harrisburg.

In Pottstown, the plan unanimously approved by the court, puts the first, second and part of the seventh wards of Pottstown into the 26th District, currently represented by longtime Chester County Republican Tim Hennessey.

The third, fourth, fifth, sixth and other half of the seventh wards will continue to be represented by the 146th District, a seat currently held by freshman Democrat Mark Painter according to the plan.

Read m0re:  http://www.pottsmerc.com/article/20130508/NEWS01/130509321/pottstown-phoenixville-split-by-court-approved-redistricting-plan#full_story

Violent Crime Wave Continues With 3 More Shootings, Robberies In Harrisburg

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Dauphin County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Within hours of Harrisburg police’s first foot patrol to curb the city’s most recent wave of violent crime, police responded to three more shootings and several robberies.

As of Wednesday afternoon, police had arrested two male teenagers, a 17-year-old and a 14-year-old, as well as a 23-year-old man in connection with the crimes, and additional charges are likely as the investigation continues, city police Chief Pierre Ritter said.

Speaking from the site of the latest foot patrol in the Allison Hill neighborhood Wednesday afternoon, Ritter addressed the department’s need to keep up with criminals, who he said are quick to target areas far away from planned police enforcement zones.

“What we’re seeing happen is, when we make foot patrols in one area, these guys go to another area to commit crime,” Ritter said. “Criminals are becoming more and more mobile.”

Read more:  http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2013/05/post_562.html#incart_m-rpt-1

Will Dauphin County Create The State’s First Land Bank To Fight Blight?

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Dauphin County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Dauphin County Commissioners will begin discussing legislation Wednesday to become the first municipality in the state to create a land bank authority to clean up vacant and blighted properties.

A land bank allows a government agency — in this case as part of the Dauphin County Redevelopment Authority – to acquire properties that are abandoned, run down and whose owners are delinquent on property tax payments.  The land bank could then rehabilitate the property and resell it or demolish the building for some kind of green space.

Land banks have been used to revitalize communities in Michigan, the Cleveland area and around Atlanta, among other places.  In year, Gov. Tom Corbett signed the Land Bank Act, hoping that municipalities here would have similar success.  City councils in Reading and Philadelphia have discussed creating land banks, as have several counties, but so far none have.

The county commissioners will discuss the measure at their weekly 10 a.m. meeting, and are expected to hold a vote next week.

Read more:  http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2013/04/will_dauphin_county_create_the.html#incart_river_default

Harrisburg Mayoral Race: The Bottom Line On Bankruptcy

Harrisburg mayoral candidate Eric Papenfuse has suggested entering bankruptcy would hand control of the city over to an unelected federal judge, but that’s just not true.

Even in a Chapter 11 bankruptcy for businesses, the judge does not take over operation of the company, notes Widener law professor Juliet Moringiello. In a Chapter 9 filing for municipalities, the powers of the judge are even more limited.

Separating fact from fiction is not always easy as bankruptcy becomes a talking point in the Harrisburg mayoral election.

The Patriot-News has talked to a number of bankruptcy experts, including people involved with the Harrisburg Receiver’s negotiations who spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to speak on the record about the process.

Read more:  http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2013/04/harrisburg_mayoral_race_the_bo.html

Amtrak Reports Increase In Ridership On Keystone Line, Says Lancaster Is Third-Busiest Station In State

Ridership on Amtrak’s Keystone line through Lancaster County grew by 5.2 percent in the last six months, the nation’s passenger railroad corporation announced Tuesday.

Amtrak has 13 trains each weekday stopping at the Lancaster, Mount Joy and Elizabethtown stations on the Keystone line and nine weekend trains.  The Keystone line carries passengers between Harrisburg and Philadelphia.

The Keystone carried 723,461 passengers in the first half of the fiscal year, compared to 687,860 during the same period last year.

Read more: http://lancasteronline.com/article/local/836140_Amtrak-reports-increase-in-ridership-on-Keystone-line–says-Lancaster-is-third-busiest-station-in-state.html#ixzz2QAEZu4bn

Nearly 5,000 Pennsylvania State Workers Paid $100,000-Plus

HARRISBURG – Nearly 5,000 Pennsylvania state employees earned at least $100,000 last year, and more than one-third worked for one of the 14 state-owned universities or the system that oversees them, a newspaper reported Monday.

The number of employees with six-figure earnings has more than quadrupled since 2002, when 1,176 people fell into that category, The Patriot-News said in stories posted on its website.

“What you see is pretty much how recession-proof that (state government) sector may be,” said Lonnie Golden, a professor of economics and labor studies at Penn State University‘s Abington campus.

In the newspaper’s analysis of data from the state-government transparency website PennWATCH and the state courts, payouts for severance and unused leave time as well as job-related, non-salary income were counted as part of employees’ earnings.

Read more:  http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=458306

Berks School Boards Face More Tough Choices In 2013-14 Budget Process

Map of Berks County, Pennsylvania, United States Public School Districts (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

It’s looking like another tough budget season for school districts across Berks County.

Of the 13 local districts that have prepared preliminary budgets, all but one spending plan included significant shortfalls, ranging from about $400,000 to $2.2 million.

Muhlenberg’s budget doesn’t have a gap, but it currently includes a property tax increase larger than the state permits.

Budget gaps among districts can be somewhat hard to compare, because some include tax increases or major cuts in their preliminary budgets while others don’t.

Read more:  http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=454915

Amtrak’s Regulars Treasure The Pennsylvanian

English: An locomotive arriving at the Johnstown train station in Johnstown, . The train is Amtrak’s #42 Pennsylvanian. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

ABOARD THE AMTRAK PENNSYLVANIAN — The steady rumble of steel wheels on tracks is punctuated by the wail of a locomotive horn and then, oddly, by the pop of a champagne cork.

It’s 8:30 a.m., and Amanda McCoy and Kim Christen are living it up in the cafe car. On the table are boxes of a Polish pastry called paczki, orange juice and a bottle of Barefoot Bubbly.

It’s mimosa time.

Ms. McCoy, of Indiana Township, and Ms. Christen, of West View, also have bread, garlic bologna, lettuce, tomato and a travel Scrabble set for the long ride. “We’re veterans,” Ms. McCoy says. “We know how to do it.”

Like many others aboard the train, they swear by it, and recoil at the possibility that the one daily Amtrak train serving Pittsburgh and Harrisburg will be eliminated in October.

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/local/state/amtraks-regulars-treasure-the-pennsylvanian-675749/#ixzz2LDMwXNd9

Pa. Budget Chief Says Pension Reforms Essential

HARRISBURG – Gov. Tom Corbett will “very likely” propose cutting future pension benefits for current school employees and state workers in the state budget plan he will present to lawmakers next week, his chief budget adviser said Monday.

Budget Secretary Charles Zogby, all but confirming a cost-cutting approach that the administration first floated last fall despite questions about its legality, said decisive steps must be taken to rein in taxpayers’ fast-growing share of pension costs.

“We’ve got to pay for our obligations and we need to look at a rebalancing of our pension obligations … if we’re going to meet our needs without inflicting deep cuts elsewhere in the budget,” he said at a Pennsylvania Press Club luncheon.

Read more:  http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=446630

Local Bakers’ Angel Food Cake Judged Heavenly

Map of Berks County, Pennsylvania, United States with township and municipal boundaries (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The key to a good angel food cake is timing.

That’s what Robert Wenger says.

The eggs must be kept at the right temperature, you can’t over beat them and you have to keep a careful eye over the cake while it’s in the oven, he said.

Those tips helped Wenger of Adamstown take home third place in the Pennsylvania Farm Show’s Incredible Angel Food Cake Contest.

Read more:  http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=442720

Pennsylvania Farm Show Celebrates ‘Made In Pa.’ – Starts January 5th

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Dauphin County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

It’s not only the largest indoor agricultural event in the nation but it’s probably the only place to see square dancing tractors.

It’s the 97th Pennsylvania Farm Show, all set to run Jan. 5-12 at the Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex and Expo Center in Harrisburg, where (among other things) two teams of two callers and 16 drivers will maneuver their tractors around the Large Arena in time to music.

It’s just one entertaining attraction during the eight-day event, which will feature some 6,000 animals, 10,000 competitive exhibits and 300 commercial exhibitors.

This year’s Farm Show theme is “Made in PA.  It makes a difference,” a motto designed to drive home just how big a role agriculture plays in our lives and how it is driving the state’s economy.

Read more:   http://www.mcall.com/entertainment/kids/mc-pennsylvania-farm-show-preview-20130102,0,2643314.story

New Polls Show Pennsylvania A Battleground State

English: Official portrait of United States Senator Pat Toomey. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Editor’s note:  Oh please, we knew it would be!

HARRISBURG – Tightening independent polls are giving hope to Republicans in Pennsylvania, although the presidential campaigns show no signs of bringing their candidates or TV ads back to the state.

Instead, Pennsylvania’s highest-profile politicians are finding themselves increasingly busy on the campaign trail, including Gov. Tom Corbett and U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey, both Republicans, and former Gov. Ed Rendell, a Democrat.

In State College on Monday night, Toomey made time for a crowd of several dozen at a Centre County Republican Party dinner and told them that a sixth straight win for a Democrat in Pennsylvania’s presidential election is not inevitable.  After all, Pennsylvanians elected himself and Corbett just two years ago and 12 of 19 U.S. House seats are held by Republicans, he said.

Read more: http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=421284

An Act 47 For Fiscally Distressed Schools Takes Shape

HARRISBURG – School districts are being evaluated this fall to determine if they belong in fiscal watch status, a new category for designating local government entities on a slippery financial slope.

The state Department of Education is identifying which districts need monitoring because of such factors as low cash on hand or limited ability to generate tax revenue and take on more debt as it implements the School District Financial Recovery Law enacted in July.

The law establishes a state oversight process for school districts similar to what Act 47 offers for fiscally distressed municipalities.

Four urban districts – Harrisburg, York City, Chester-Upland and Duquesne – have received preliminary declarations as districts in financial recovery, the ultimate distress category that triggers the appointment of a chief officer to develop a recovery plan.

Read more:  http://thetimes-tribune.com/news/an-act-47-for-fiscally-distressed-schools-takes-shape-1.1381357

Harrisburg Newspaper To Publish 3 Days A Week

Editor’s note:  According to Wikipedia, in 2011 The Patriot-News averaged over 492,000 readers per week between their print edition and Pennlive.com.  The newspaper was ranked in the top 100 in daily/Sunday circulation (United States) in 2005.

HARRISBURG, PA — The daily newspaper in Pennsylvania’s capital city is switching to a three-days-a-week publication schedule in January, in what it calls an adaptation to the changing world.

John Kirkpatrick, publisher of The Patriot-News of Harrisburg, announced the changes Tuesday in an email to friends of the newspaper.

The email didn’t say which days the paper will be published. It says the change will be accompanied by an expansion of the paper’s around-the-clock news coverage online.

“We are not making this move lightly,” said Kirkpatrick. “We understand how important the daily paper is to a large number of people in our region. However, this is a major step to make sure we are leading, not trailing, in the world of innovation and solutions.”

Read more: http://www.mcall.com/business/mc-patriot-news-20120828,0,7285933.story

Bipartisan Effort Shapes Action On City Distress Issues

HARRISBURG – While the city of Scranton struggles daily with cash-flow problems, key state lawmakers see any unveiling of comprehensive legislative proposals to help fiscally distressed cities as being months away.

A rollout of bills is anticipated early next year with the start of the new legislative session, said Sen. John Eichelberger, R-30, Hollidaysburg, chairman of the Senate Local Government Committee.

A bipartisan group in the Senate and House is working on a host of related issues, including an overhaul of the Act 47 program for fiscally distressed municipalities, municipal pension benefits, collective bargaining for public employees and the role of nonprofit institutions clustered in cities.

Since four legislative committees held joint hearings last fall on the future of Act 47, lawmakers involved in the effort to find solutions to the problems cities face with eroding tax bases and increased demand for services have emphasized its bipartisan nature.

Read more: http://thetimes-tribune.com/news/bipartisan-effort-shapes-action-on-city-distress-issues-1.1357868